March 3, 2013

Lenten Journey: Third Sunday - God's Will

During this third week in Lent, we will arrive at the half-way point of the forty day journey from Ash Wednesday to the Passion of the Lord and Holy Week. It's time to notice where we have come to along the Lenten road.

We began with the three great themes of Lent, fasting, almsgiving, and prayer. Lent is a dessert season, and its practices of self-denial are all meant to call us into deeper relationship with the God who, in Jesus, we can meet face to face.

Once we have encountered this God, what then? Encounter is not synonymous with going to church or following the rules. It is a living relationship. God takes the initiative in our very creation. We respond by doing what we're doing now, turning our faces toward God.

But if our relationship is to grow, we must wonder what is next for us. God wants us to do more than show up. We are invited to participate in the work of redemption, that is, in the transformation of the world-broken-by-sin into the Kingdom of God.

If we have come to believe that we have met the real God, we might well wonder what our Creator desires of us. What is God's will? How do we recognize it? How do we begin to respond?

For Entering In...

- Spend a few moments in silence becoming present to yourself and to the God who dwells within you.

- Reflect on these questions:

Have you chosen something from which to fast this Lent? If so, how has that been for you? Rather than thinking about yourself as having been "good" or "bad," notice whether and when it has been easy or difficult. What have you been aware of as you fast? What have you learned? If you have not been fasting, consider what you might be called to abstain from and why you may be resisting.

Have you given alms, that is, acted in mercy for someone in need? Have you been vulnerable enough to receive help in your own need? Remember that when we act in charity, whether as one who gives or one who humbly receives, we see the face of Christ in another -- and she sees the face of Christ in us.

How is your prayer life? Have you adopted or renewed a daily practice of time set apart to be present to God? Do you still feel concerned about what or where or when or how you pray? What if every time you became conscious of the presence of God, that was your prayer? Could you use that as a place from which to grow?